Al-Qaeda Spreads Its Wing to South Asia

Al-Qaeda, a militant group, has extended its terror operations to India, South Asia. Ayman al-Zawahiri, leader of the group, announced that the group would raise its jihad flag across South Asia.“Al-Qaeda is an entity that was formed to promulgate the call of the reviving imam, Sheikh Osama Bin Laden. May Allah have mercy upon him. Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent would be good news for Muslims in Burma, Bangladesh and in the Indian states of Assam, Gujarat, and Jammu and Kashmir, where they would be rescued from injustice and oppression,” Al-Zawahiri said.

He urged Muslims worldwide to wage jihad against its enemies, to liberate its land, to restore its sovereignty and to revive its caliphate. al-Zawahiri in the video pledged renewed loyalty to Mullah Omar, Afghan Taliban leader. Such stated allegiance is seen as an apparent rejection of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, ISIS.

However, counter-terrorism experts say the leadership of al-Qaeda’s is currently vying with ISIS to recruit followers after the success of ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in the Middle East in attracting young followers worldwide by conquering large swathes of territory across Iraq and Syria.